Lydia's Arrival- Part 6

Such relief and joy!  My bawling started up again in earnest, this time in joy.  After a few minutes of being examined and cleaned up, our sweet little bundle was put next to me for a short time.  I was so very thankful.  Then she was taken away again to be monitored while I was stitched up.  Once again, the doctors were great.  They soon assured me that the surgery had gone well and that there was nothing they could see to prevent me from giving birth again.

Baby had Apgar scores of 7 and 9 out of 10.  Unfortunately, though, the doctor soon came to me and let me know that they would need to monitor her longer because she was causing some concern.  It seemed that she was doing the same thing she had been doing during labor.  She would be looking great, then she would suddenly drop.  At one point, I was told that they were unsure if she would be able to go with us that day.  They thought they may need to keep her for the day.
I was eventually all stitched up and wheeled to the recovery room.  I was shaking a lot and kept falling asleep.   Our nurse (named Lydia) was wonderful.  She asked us what our baby’s name was and we told her ‘Lydia,’ after my grandma.  I told Kendall he could leave me and go be with Lydia.  Someone went to check to see if he could go see her.  I was in and out, but I remember the odd feeling when I heard someone come back into the room and say, “Kendall, you can go see your daughter.”  Daughter?!  That’s not a word we’re used to!

About 2 hours after Lydia’s birth, they finally brought her to me.  They were still undecided about whether they would keep her for the day.  But they put her on my chest and right away she started to nurse like a pro.  Soon they were convinced that she was stable and doing well.  She needed her Mommy.

The stay at the hospital went well.  Normally they keep Mom and Baby for 72 hours after a c-section, but somehow we convinced them to let us go home just 36 hours after Lydia was born.  Apparently, both of us were doing well enough to head home.  It also helped a lot that Kendall is a nurse. 

But before leaving, I asked to see the pediatrician one more time.  I was feeling so uneasy about how Lydia had acted right after birth and about her size.  The pediatrician came into our room and I brought out my questions:  "Why is she so small?  Why was the placenta so small?  Why did she have a hard time right after she was born?"  The pediatrician simply said, "Well, you're going to have to ask God some of those questions.  But I can tell you that she is normal.  Babies come in all shapes and sizes and she is normal.  She is just fine."  That was the reassurance I needed before heading home with our little girl.